Chapter Twenty-Two The Bosses of the Trial

Arlie pushed the great door open. Beyond which she could feel divine mana, and until a moment ago, which of the holy elements she was feeling had been unclear. But now it suddenly was clear. A being of light stood waiting ahead of them.

The darkness vanished, and a winged figure appeared. She was female, entirely naked, yet clearly divine upon the first sight of her. Her hair was an impossible color of flowing gold that seemed to glow in the light and ran down her back and ended past her butt. The woman was tall, her facial features regal and proud, and regarded them with golden eyes that seemed to glow as well. She had three lovely pairs of naked breasts and an equal number of wings spread from her back, each one wreathed in golden-white feathers.

She smiled upon seeing them, “I’m glad to see you passed the first half of this trial, the next part is for the Kinsara alone. Three bosses await you, I am the first. Li’tarra the Light, Goddess of the sky, and the celestial lights, and mother to all that flies. I shall be your first test, to see if your soul is ready to wield the power you seek.”

Arlie blinked, “Me alone!? And I’m facing a goddess?”

“Just one of my avatars, but this part of the trial is special. That is doubly true with the Kinsara. Not that the guardian could tell you that, but I can tell you that the world needs you to succeed. I too have seen the future you have foretold.”

She looked around, noting the speechless twins and the boys behind them just staring at the figure. It seemed none of them had any words to offer. Arlie let out a breath, “How does this work? Do my friends have any further role?”

“They will escort you to my sisters after this, help with the remaining puzzles, but the trial I offer is for you alone.”

“I see, and how does this work?”

“In a traditional dungeon, we would fight, but this isn’t a traditional dungeon and without using your blessing you aren’t ready to fight a god, not even an avatar.”

She knew what blessing the goddess was talking about and it was not a blessing to be used lightly. The price was often too high. It was more of a defense mechanism than anything else. “I guess now, so what are we doing?”

“Take your clothes off then we can begin.”

She blushed deeply, “What!?”

The goddess gestured and her friends vanished, “Don’t worry about them, they will have time to relax. Now take them off.”

Arlie hesitated for a moment before stripping down. Her large breasts sprang free of her top, and her crotchless panties fell to her feet. Leaving her entirely naked, perhaps this was better than the lewd clothing she’d been stuck with, or it was worse. She wasn’t sure which was better at this point, but she felt oddly vulnerable as she drew near the unusual skylord.

Li’tarra gestured, her wings fluttering, “I know you are aware of the Light that I radiate. I want you to feel it flowing through the air, the mana in the rock, the stone and earth around us.”

Arlie took her place as indicated and the goddess settled behind her, with more instructions on her lips. “Each of the temples has a connection to the elements, but all elements embody something. Our test today is to reflect on the Earth and the Fire within, but I also want you to show me that you understand the Light. Only then can we start the real test, even if you won’t remember all of it.”

“Huh? What do you...” she trailed off and gasped as something powerful flowed through her and suddenly she lost track of time, along with everything else as the world dissolved around her.

Arlie blinked twice and looked around, she was dressed now, but she didn’t recall when she put her clothes back on, and she found herself in a corridor with the twins. She frowned, “Rose? Lily? When did we get here?”

Lily shrugged, “I”m not entirely sure, we met the goddess and then we were here.”

Horon came around the corner, “I’m not sure what happened either but I think we passed the test.”

Arlie didn’t think ‘we’ had anything to do with that. The words of the goddess echoed in her mind, recalling how the rest of the test was for her alone. Yet she couldn’t help but wonder why. There was something about this that left her with questions. Something about this bothered her on a deeper level, Arlie was almost certain there was more to this than she was being told. Yet try as she might, no answers came and she was drawing a blank on the last test. “Guess we should move on then?”

The group shared looks, just as Thron showed his face, “I saw some golems up ahead.”

That was something they were starting to get very familiar with. Arlie gestured to the corridor and the group moved on. It was time to tackle the sixth floor.

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  Floors six and seven passed in a breeze. After another night in the Inn they then moved on to floor eight, where Arlie once again felt the presence of the divine. This time she was able to feel the element out sooner, it was Dark. Again on the holy trinity, while many might mistake the Dark element for evil, it was in fact the embodiment of creation. It was right there in the ancient parable of creation, it didn’t matter which faith you believed, if you worshipped the skylords, or the Dragons or some other divine, the parables were all quite similar, in the beginning there was only darkness, then there was light and then the gods created the land, the sea, the sky, and filled them all with life. From the Dark all was born.

In turn light was natural the opposite of the Dark, and while many light spells were healing in nature, those who truly understand it are aware of its unparalleled application for destruction, no spells were more destructive than true Light spells.

Finally there was Shadow, it was the element of Balance. Its users blessed with an understanding of opposing forces. It was shadow that brought the forces of Light and Dark into balance. That was its nature, to bring harmony between opposites, to reveal what could only be found in between. In the hours of twilight, when shadows were everywhere, does the element most reveal its work.

Yet none of that really told her what lay ahead, only that something of the divine touched the eighth floor. Cautiously they tread, passing ancient murals depicting the gods bestowing gifts upon naked mortals, this time the figures present were shown under a lovely night sky, lit by swirling colors. The scenes were peaceful, as new life was born and guided.

Reaching the great doors, she took a breath and pushed them open. The room was bathed in light so bright nothing could be seen, but darkness rushed in to reveal the room beyond. It was as magnificent as the first, but the figure in the middle drew all her attention. She was tall and regal just like the last one, but that was where the similarities ended. Her face was gentler, more motherly, framed by hair darker than any night yet dotted with glittering points of light just like any night sky. Her eyes were a glowing shade of purple, mystic and endless, and she had three pairs of wings, midnight black and coated with scales like those of a dragon. Three large pairs of naked breasts hung on her chest and belly, and black scales ran up her pale skin like gloves and long socks. More bracketed her naked breasts, and ran along either side of her naked pussy.

The woman smiled, “Welcome Daughter of the Lord of the Cycle, as per the ancient agreement I will test you now. Your friends may rest in the meantime, but first introductions. I am Goddess Yularia the Dark, Goddess of the Earth and Mother of the Night, and you are Arlie Contrey, the most recent Bykura Kinsara of the Contrey clan.”

Arlie drew closer, “I seem to be at a disadvantage then, seeing as you already knew my name.”

“Perhaps, but my child you know more than you think. Perhaps some of it will come to you in your dreams? It matters not to the moment, your soul has proven itself in the Test of Light, now let me see if you are ready for the Test of the Dark.”

“Test of Light? Test of Dark?”

“The final tests of the temple, you won’t remember the tests themselves though, not now anyway. Each is named for an element of the holy trinity, but you already knew that. Now speak, speak the words you have learned.

Arlie blinked, and suddenly words came forward, “By the power of light I destroy what was. To all things come an end and through the light of destruction...” She trailed off, lost for a moment, then she frowned, “I... I don’t know what comes next.”

“Of course you don’t, this spell has three parts, my sister Li’tarra taught you the first part as a reward for passing her test. I will teach you the second. Now take those clothes off and start feeling the mana,” said Yularia.

Arlie sighed and stripped, by this point she was wondering if she should have just walked around naked. It wasn’t all that different from the clothing this temple had handed her. Yeah, that seemed a good idea, these clothes weren’t exactly good at preserving her modesty.

Those thoughts aside she focused on the task at hand, losing track of time once again. Next thing she knew she was back at the inn with the twins, both of them naked, with frowns on their faces.

She sighed, “Let me guess, you two don’t know when we got here either?”

They shook their heads. Arlie looked out the window and yawned, “Well it is late, and I don’t think standing around will get our answers. Maybe we should sleep?”

Rose nodded and crawled into the bed, Lily joined her a moment later, and Arlie joined them a moment after that. Sleep took her almost instantly.

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The next couple of floors passed in a blur and before she knew it she stood before the door to the final test. Arlie paused before the doors, she could feel the divine energy coming from behind the door. Predictably, it tastes of Shadow, the only holy element she hadn’t faced yet in this temple. What tests she would face, she didn’t know.

The mural didn’t seem like it would help, it was expansive. To the right it showed images of naked young girls. On the left it was a scene from hell. Hellspawn and fiends were depicted, the poor girls seen were in chains, but some seemed to be in positions of power. On the right was a garden, a paradise where the gods walked freely, the girls were happy and free.

Those weren’t the only panels however, each one showed one thing, then its opposite. The theme was clear and right on the door she could see what the panels were building towards. On the door was one final mural, where a dragon and a Skylord stood side by side, young girls kneeling before them on the left of the panel it was night, on the right day yet the scene conveyed harmony. Something greater than the whole of the parts.